How to Use Auto Reframe in PowerDirector
Turn one landscape clip into a vertical, square or ultrawide version, with the subject kept in frame.
Updated Aug. 27, 2026 · 5 min read
In a hurry? Use the Auto Reframe quick guide instead.
You shot it wide, and now it has to be tall. Auto Reframe in PowerDirector reshapes the clip to the ratio you pick and uses motion tracking to decide what stays inside the new frame as the subject moves. Instead of a center crop that slices your subject in half, the visible area travels with them. A batch of clips can go through in one pass.
- Open Auto Reframe from the GenAI menu, under Video, and load your clip.
- Pick a shape under Output Aspect Ratio: 9:16, 16:9, 1:1, 4:3, 4:5 or 21:9.
- Set how closely the frame follows the subject under Motion Tracking.
- Play the clip and check the blue reframing box, dragging it if you want something else kept in frame.
- Click Add to Timeline to keep editing, or Export to save it as a file.
Steps to Auto Reframe a Clip
All of it happens in one window, so it is worth knowing the layout before you start: the clip and its reframing box on the left, the settings on the right, and the two finish buttons along the bottom.
Step 1: Open Auto Reframe and Load Your Clips
In the editor, open the GenAI menu at the top of the window, go to Video, and choose Auto Reframe. Drag a clip into the window, or click the + tile on the left of the Imported Clips strip to browse for one.
Watch the counter in that strip: it reads Imported Clips (1/10), so ten is the ceiling for one pass. If you came back from a shoot with a folder of clips that all need the same vertical version, load them together rather than opening the window ten times.
Step 2: Pick the Output Aspect Ratio
Six shapes sit under Output Aspect Ratio, one click each. The preview reshapes as soon as you choose, so you can see what you are about to lose from the sides before you commit to anything.
| Ratio | Shape | Where it usually goes |
|---|---|---|
| 9:16 | Tall | Reels, Shorts, TikTok, Stories |
| 16:9 | Widescreen | YouTube, most players and TVs |
| 1:1 | Square | Instagram and Facebook feed posts |
| 4:3 | Classic | Slideshows and presentations |
| 4:5 | Portrait | Feed posts, taller than square |
| 21:9 | Ultrawide | Cinematic openers and banners |
Step 3: Set the Motion Tracking
Motion Tracking has three settings: Slow, Default and Fast. Default is the one already selected when the window opens. The ⓘ icon beside the heading spells out what each of them changes.
Leave it on Default for your first pass. There is no penalty for looking at the result and coming back, and you will judge the setting far better against a preview of your own footage than against a description.
Step 4: Check the Reframing Box
Press play and watch the blue box in the preview. That box is the new frame: everything inside it survives, everything outside it is cropped away, and it moves as the subject does. This is the step people skip, and it is the only one that tells you whether the reframe actually worked.
If you would rather keep something else in shot (a second person, a sign, the finish line), drag the box. The window says so itself along the bottom edge: Drag the reframing box to adjust the visible area.
Step 5: Add to Timeline, or Export
Two buttons finish the job, and which one you want depends on whether this clip is the whole deliverable. Add to Timeline hands the reframed version back to your project so you can carry on cutting, scoring and titling it. Export writes it out as a file instead, which is the shorter road when the reframe was the entire job.
Haven't got PowerDirector yet? If you have a landscape clip that now has to be vertical, that clip is all you need to try this.
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